Marques Patricia X, Wand Handan, Nandy Melissa, Tan Chun, Shou Huizhong, Terplan Mishka, Mark Katrina, Brotman Rebecca M, Wilson David P, Ravel Jacques, Hsia Ru-Ching, Bavoil Patrik M
Department of Microbial Pathogenesis, University of Maryland, 650 W. Baltimore St, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
The Kirby Institute, Wallace Wurth Bldg, High St., UNSW Sydney, Kensington, NSW, 2052, Australia.
FEMS Microbes. 2022 Feb 28;3:xtac004. doi: 10.1093/femsmc/xtac004. eCollection 2022.
We previously observed that the nine-member family of autotransported polymorphic membrane proteins (Pmps) of is variably expressed in cell culture. Additionally, -infected patients display variable Pmp-specific serum antibody profiles indirectly suggesting expression of unique Pmp profiles is an adaptive response to host-specific stimuli during infection. Here, we propose that the host response to Pmps and other outer surface proteins may correlate with disease severity. This study tests this hypothesis using an ELISA that measures serum IgG antibodies specific for the nine Pmp subtypes and four immunodominant antigens (MOMP, OmcB, Hsp60, ClpP) in 265 participants of the Adolescent/Young Adult Reproductive Management (CHARM) cohort. More -infected females displayed high Pmp-specific antibody levels (cut-off Indexes) than males (35.9%-40.7% of females . 24.2%-30.0% of males), with statistical significance for PmpC, F and H ( < 0.05). Differences in Pmp-specific antibody profiles were not observed between -infected females with a clinical diagnosis of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and those without. However, a statistically significant association between high levels of OmcB-specific antibody and a PID diagnosis (< 0.05) was observed. Using antibody levels as an indirect measure of antigen expression, our results suggest that gender- and/or site-specific (cervix in females . urethra in males) stimuli may control expression in infected patients. They also support the possible existence of immune biomarkers of chlamydial infection associated with disease and underline the need for high resolution screening in human serum.
我们之前观察到沙眼衣原体的九成员自转运多态性膜蛋白（Pmps）家族在细胞培养中的表达存在差异。此外，感染沙眼衣原体的患者表现出不同的Pmp特异性血清抗体谱，间接表明独特Pmp谱的表达是感染期间对宿主特异性刺激的一种适应性反应。在此，我们提出宿主对Pmps和其他外表面蛋白的反应可能与疾病严重程度相关。本研究使用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）来检验这一假设，该测定法可测量265名青少年/青年成人生殖管理（CHARM）队列参与者血清中针对九种沙眼衣原体Pmp亚型和四种免疫显性抗原（主要外膜蛋白（MOMP）、外膜蛋白B（OmcB）、热休克蛋白60（Hsp60）、ClpP）的IgG抗体。感染沙眼衣原体的女性比男性表现出更高的Pmp特异性抗体水平（临界指数）（女性为35.9% - 40.7%，男性为24.2% - 30.0%），PmpC、F和H具有统计学意义（P < 0.05）。在临床诊断为盆腔炎（PID）的感染沙眼衣原体的女性和未患PID的女性之间，未观察到Pmp特异性抗体谱的差异。然而，观察到高水平的OmcB特异性抗体与PID诊断之间存在统计学显著关联（P < 0.05）。使用抗体水平作为抗原表达的间接指标，我们的结果表明性别和/或部位特异性（女性为宫颈，男性为尿道）刺激可能控制感染患者中沙眼衣原体的表达。它们还支持可能存在与疾病相关的沙眼衣原体感染免疫生物标志物，并强调了在人血清中进行高分辨率筛查的必要性。
